Natural Gas Pipelines

RUSSIA – TÜRKİYE NATURAL GAS PIPELINE (WEST LINE)

As a result of the research on alternative energy sources, an Intergovernmental Agreement was signed between the governments of the Republic of Türkiye and the former Soviet Union regarding natural gas delivery on 18 September 1984.

After the signature of the agreement, related works have been started by BOTAŞ and with the Natural Gas Usage Survey, which has been done in 1985, the potential natural gas consumption and the feasible route have been determined. In this context, a 25-year Natural Gas Purchase-Sale Agreement was signed between BOTAŞ and SoyuzGazExport on 14 February 1986 in Ankara. Within the scope of the agreement; natural gas imports started gradually from 1987 and reached the maximum amount of 6 billion m³/year in 1993.

The Russia -Türkiye Natural Gas Pipeline, which enters the country from the Malkoçlar on the Bulgarian border, following the route Hamitabat, Ambarlı, Istanbul, Izmit, Bursa, and Eskişehir and reaches to Ankara, is 845 km long.

The construction works are started on October 26, 1986, and the pipeline reached its first stop, Hamitabat, on June 23, 1987. From this date, in addition to the domestic natural gas, imported natural gas started to be used in electricity production at Trakya Combined Cycle Power Plant in Hamitabat. The line reached Ankara in August 1988. Natural gas was started to be used in IGSAŞ (Istanbul Gübre Sanayii A.Ş.) in July 1988, in Ambarlı Power Plant in August 1988 and in residential and commercial areas of Ankara in October 1988.

Within the process, the capacity of the Malkoçlar Metering Station on the Bulgarian border has been increased from 8 billion m³/year to 14 billion m³/year.

BLUE STREAM GAS PIPELINE

Within the scope of the 25-year Natural Gas Purchase-Sale Agreement signed between BOTAŞ and Gazexport on December 15, 1997, natural gas is transported from the Russian Federation through a transit line under the Black Sea to Türkiye. According to the agreement, 16 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year are supplied to Türkiye.

Blue Stream Gas Pipeline has been constructed as three main parts;

• On the Russian territory, a Pipeline System between the Izobilnoye-Djubga with a total length of 370 km, consists of 308 km long 56" pipeline and 62 km long 48" pipeline,
• In the Black Sea pass, between Djubga and Samsun, there are 2 parallel lines of 24" diameter, each about 390 km in length,
• In the territory of Türkiye, a Pipeline System of 501 km long 48” pipeline

The financing and construction of the part of the natural gas pipeline in the territory of the Russian Federation and under the Black Sea have been carried out by the GAZPROM Company and the financing and construction of the Turkish section by BOTAS. The construction of the Pressure Reducing and Metering Station in Samsun - Durusu has been completed on October 15, 2002.

The Turkish part of the Blue Stream Project starts from Samsun and reaches to Ankara via Amasya, Çorum, and Kırıkkale. It is connected to the Main Line near Polatlı. The pipeline was taken into operation on February 20, 2003, and the official opening ceremony was held on November 17, 2005.

EASTERN ANATOLIAN NATURAL GAS MAIN TRANSMISSION LINE (IRAN-TÜRKİYE)

A Natural Gas Purchase-Sale Agreement was signed between Iran and Türkiye on 8 August 1996 in Tehran for the purpose of supplying 10 billion m³ per year of Iranian natural gas to Türkiye via pipeline. The Eastern Anatolian Natural Gas Main Transmission Line, which is built in this scope and has a length of approximately 1491 km and a diameter of ranging between 48” and 16”, extends from Doğubayazıt to Ankara via Erzurum, Sivas, and Kayseri, and to Seydisehir, Konya with a branch via Kayseri.

By the end of June 2001, the entire pipeline system was ready to receive gas and with the completion of the Meter Station in Bazargan, Iran, the gas purchase from Iran was started on 10 December 2001.

BAKU - TBILISI – ERZURUM NATURAL GAS PIPELINE (BTE)

The Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum Natural Gas Pipeline, which aims to supply natural gas produced from the Shah Deniz field in the southern Caspian Sea region of Azerbaijan to Türkiye, was realized under the Türkiye-Azerbaijan Intergovernmental Agreement signed on 12 March 2001. In this context, BOTAS and SOCAR signed a 15-year Natural Gas Purchase-Sale Agreement on 12 March 2001 for the transportation of 6.6 billion m³ of Azerbaijan natural gas to Türkiye annually.

The construction of the BTE pipeline, which is approximately 980 km long and 42" in diameter, in the corridor of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Crude Oil Pipeline (BTC) in the territories of Azerbaijan and Georgia, was started on 16 October 2004 and the gas flow through the pipeline started as of July 4, 2007.

The expansion project of the part of the BTE in the Azerbaijan and Georgia territory (South Caucasus Natural Gas Pipeline) was started in 2015 in parallel with the development of the Shah Deniz field Phase 2. The first gas flow to TANAP started at the end of June 2018. It is planned that the expansion project will be fully completed in 2022.

TÜRKİYE – GREECE NATURAL GAS INTERCONNECTION (ITG)

The first phase of the South European Gas Ring, which was developed within the context of the European Union INOGATE (Interstate Oil and Gas Transport to Europe) Program, is the pipeline that will interconnect the Turkish and Greek natural gas systems and enable to transport natural gas to Greece from and/or through Türkiye. The Intergovernmental Agreement concerning the realization of Türkiye – Greece natural gas interconnection and supplying natural gas to the Hellenic Republic from the Republic of Türkiye has been signed between the Republic of Türkiye and the Hellenic Republic on February 23, 2003, and the Natural Gas Sale Purchase Agreement regarding natural gas export for 15 years has been signed between BOTAŞ and DEPA (Public Gas Corporation of Greece) on December 23, 2003. With the inauguration ceremony which was attended by the prime ministers of two countries, the natural gas supply has been started on November 18, 200,7.

The Project has been planned to extend to Italy from Greece and in this regard, an Intergovernmental Agreement has been signed between Türkiye, Greece, and Italy on 26 July 2007. Although there has been no progress on obtaining commitments for gas transportation, it is considered that opportunities may arise for the realization of the Italian connection.

TRANS – ANATOLIA NATURAL GAS PIPELINE (TANAP) PROJECT

In order to meet the rising natural gas demand of Türkiye, negotiations were conducted with the Azerbaijan Government and Shah Deniz Consortium that has been developing the Shah Deniz field of Azerbaijan. An agreement concerning the supply of 6 billion m³ Azeri gas annually to Türkiye starting from 2018 was signed on October 25, 2011. In addition, for the transit of 10 billion m³ Azerbaijani gas to Europe through Türkiye via a newly constructed pipeline, Intergovernmental Agreement concerning Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) System between Türkiye and Azerbaijan and a Host Governmental Agreement, which is an annex to the Intergovernmental Agreement, between Türkiye and the Project Company was signed on 26 June 2012. With these agreements, the legal framework has been established to ensure the realization of the TANAP Project.

In order to bring the gas to be produced in Azerbaijan to Türkiye and through Türkiye to Europe, a final investment decision of the Shah Deniz Phase II development, the Southern Caucasus Pipeline Expansion (SCPX) Project, TANAP and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline with an overall investment cost of 45 billion Dollars were taken at the ceremony held in Baku in December 2013. Türkiye has a share of 19% in Shah Deniz Phase II and South Caucasus Pipeline Expansion Project through TPAO and 30% in TANAP Project through BOTAŞ. Thus, Türkiye plays an active role in the gas supply chain from the wellhead to the end-user.

With TANAP Project, a 1,850 km long pipeline with the initial capacity of 16 billion m³ and the maximum capacity of 32 billion m³ per year is planned to reach the Greece border from Georgia. The activities related to the project are carried out by TANAP Doğalgaz İletim A.Ş. in which BOTAS has 30% share, SOCAR 58%, and BP 12%.

The groundbreaking ceremony of the project was held in Kars on 17 March 2015 and hosted by the President of the Republic of Türkiye with the participation of many countries, especially the United States of America and the European Union, at prime ministerial and ministerial level. On June 12, 2018, the inauguration ceremony of the project was held in Eskişehir/Seyitgazi and again hosted by the President of the Republic of Türkiye with the participation of heads of states, prime ministers and ministers of energy of several countries, executives of energy companies and senior bureaucrats, the first gas flow to Türkiye was started at the end of June 2018. It is projected that the gas supply to Europe will start in 2020.

TURKSTREAM GAS PIPELINE PROJECT

To establish the technical, economic and legal framework, The Intergovernmental Agreement concerning TurkStream Gas Pipeline between the Government of the Republic of Türkiye and the Government of the Russian Federation was signed in Istanbul on October 10, 2016, in the presence of the President of the Republic of Türkiye and President of the Russian Federation. Internal legal procedures required for entry into force of the Agreement were completed in both countries.

TurkStream Gas Pipeline Project is a new gas pipeline system with a maximum capacity of 31.5 billion m³ per annum for two lines, each having 15.75 billion m³ per annum, which run from Russian Federation through the Black Sea to the receiving terminal on the Black Sea coast of our country and further across the territory of the Republic of Türkiye up to the borders with its neighboring states.

The project is a pipeline system consisting of the offshore section and the onshore section, which will be constructed to supply the natural gas to the Republic of Türkiye from the Russian Federation as well as to supply the Russian gas to Europe through the territory of the Republic of Türkiye. The construction and operation of the two pipelines in the offshore section will be carried out by the Russian Federation. One of the lines on the onshore section will solely supply natural gas to the Republic of Türkiye and will be constructed by BOTAS as part of the national transmission system. The second pipeline on the onshore section will supply gas to Europe and TürkAkım Gaz Taşıma Anonim Şirketi, established by the companies of the two countries with a partnership of 50% share, will carry out the construction and operation of the second pipeline.

The natural gas disputes between the Russian Federation and Ukraine over the past years have caused the supply of gas from the West Line to Türkiye to be cut off from time to time and this situation jeopardizes the security of the energy supply of Türkiye, especially during winter. Within the scope of TurkStream, upon the commissioning of the pipeline to be constructed solely to supply gas to Türkiye, 14 billion m³ of gas purchased from delivered through West Line will be delivered to Türkiye via TurkStream without any change in the terms and conditions of existing contracts. Thus, it will be ensured that the gas transported directly from the source country to Türkiye without the use of the transmission system of another country will not be exposed to possible interruptions caused by third parties.

The construction works of the first line to Türkiye are ongoing and pipelines are planned to be in operation at the end of 2019.

Date of Update: 12 July 2023